"I'm concerned that, if you were in a sinking ship with Finchem and there was only one lifeboat, you wouldn't get that lifeboat. He'd have it, and you'd go down with the ship."

John Huggan tries to understand Tim Finchem's buckets and mostly lets Peter Alliss consider the impact of the FedEx Cup on European golf:

While it is easy to make fun of the verbally-manipulative Finchem, the danger he presents to golf in the wider sense should not be underestimated. He thinks "outward looking" means anywhere inside the US. Hence his utter indifference when it was pointed out to him the damage the Fed-Ex Cup would almost certainly do to, for example, a suddenly star-starved European Tour.

"This so-called special relationship between Great Britain and the United States in all things doesn't seem to exist in golf," says BBC commentator Peter Alliss. "As much a politician as Tim Finchem is, I'm not sure he really cares about the European Tour. If we went under, I'm not sure it would register on his radar. He's always squeezing dates. The Ryder Cup is moving farther and farther back. All it will take is a bit of mist in the morning, and they won't get the next couple played in three days.

"He doesn't really seem to care. He's always going on about playing against the rest of the world, but only on his own terms. I remember when Greg Norman was going to start a so-called world tour. Finchem killed that, then virtually copied what Greg was proposing.

"I'm concerned that, if you were in a sinking ship with Finchem and there was only one lifeboat, you wouldn't get that lifeboat. He'd have it, and you'd go down with the ship. I really don't think he gives a shit. He'd be very apologetic, but at the end of the day he'd be looking after his own."

And... 

"The US Tour is a bit like going to see The Mousetrap every week, and going across the road from the theatre to eat the same meal," Alliss, a former Ryder Cup player, observes. "No matter how good the play is or the food is, you soon get bored with it. I know the counter-argument is that Finchem is not obliged to look at the bigger picture: he is employed solely to make money for his members, something he does very well. Look at the bonus system they have for making cuts. If Tiger were to retire when he is 40, he'd get some ridiculous sum of money.

"But for Finchem, the state of the game is neither here nor there. He is responsible for providing tournaments for his members to play in. I didn't think he could continue to find sponsors willing to put up a $1m first prize every week, but he has."

What has also boosted sympathy for Finchem's latest cause is the whining from players, most notably Mickelson, whenever the unavailability of the Fed-Ex prize-money is mentioned. The pampered souls will receive the cash only when they reach the age of 45.

"Professional golf has come so far in a relatively short period of time that I wonder how much longer it can go on and on," says Alliss. "The reaction of some of the players worries me. I never thought I would say there is too much money in professional golf. But I'm beginning to think there is. The top players are seemingly not tempted by anything. The Fed-Ex is worth $10m, and it can't get them to play every week. Money just does not stir them."

Honorary Membership For Wounded Warrior

If only our government treated vets this well...

For Immediate Release

 WOUNDED WARRIOR MARC GIAMMATTEO WILL BE AWARDED HONORARY MEMBERSHIP TO TPC
                 BOSTON DURING DEUTSCHE BANK CHAMPIONSHIP

NORTON, MA (August 27, 2007) – As part of the PGA TOUR’s ongoing commitment to support U.S. military men and women and their families, the TOUR will award an honorary TPC Boston membership to Captain Marc Giammatteo at a special ceremony at the Club on Wednesday, August 29 at 5:30 p.m.  Working in collaboration with the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP), the TOUR is providing honorary memberships to special wounded warriors at each of its 17 TPCs across the country.

In addition to receiving the honorary membership, Giammatteo will serve as the TOUR’s special guest during the Deutsche Bank Championship – the second tournament in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, which is taking place at TPC Boston August 31 – September 3.  PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem will be on hand to make the presentation to Giammatteo, a West Point graduate who was severely injured during his tour of duty in Iraq in 2004.

“On behalf of the PGA TOUR, we feel privileged to have the opportunity to give back to the brave men and women of our military and their families, who sacrifice so much so that all Americans can enjoy a level of freedom and quality of life unmatched around the world,” said Finchem.

Re-branding The Re-branders

Sounds like a bad horror film, eh? Actually, it's just that wonderful world of advertising.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 27, 2007

PGA TOUR Helps Celebrate Ad Agency’s Rebranding

Commissioner Tim Finchem joins GSD&M’s announcement to become GSD&M’s Idea City and outlines new assignment

Fix the FedEx Cup?

AUSTIN, TX – The agency that helped develop the PGA TOUR’s two highest-profile advertising campaigns – These Guys Are Good and A New Era in Golf – has undergone a major re-branding campaign of its own.

In a celebration held today at its Austin headquarters that was attended by PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem, GSD&M Founder and President Roy Spence unveiled the agency’s new name: GSD&M’s Idea City.

“GSD&M’s Idea City preserves GSD&M’s core values and purpose while stimulating and accelerating progress and innovation in all that we do,” Spence said.  “GSD&M’s Idea City is a destination for visionary ideas that make a difference for our people, our clients, our country and the world.”

GSD&M's Idea City just rolls off the tongue, don't you think? Now I think I'm getting a better understanding of why these branding campaigns are so, uh, incredible.

Commissioner, since you burned up some private jet fuel to be here, would you like to add something?

“On behalf of the PGA TOUR, I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to one of the great branding agencies on the rebranding of itself to GSD&M’s Idea City,” Finchem said. “It’s very appropriate. Roy is one of the most creative people I know, and he has built a terrific team
that has done some outstanding work on behalf of the TOUR.”

Finchem indicated the TOUR’s involvement with GSD&M’s Idea City will grow moving forward.

“Not only will we continue our storied relationship but we look forward to expanding our association with GSD&M’s Idea City,” Finchem said.

Storied?

“This includes engaging their strategic expertise on activating, integrating and growing the charitable focus for our three Tours and our tournaments.”

Lots of ing'ing going on down there in Austin.

In addition to the PGA TOUR, the agency has helped create some of the most memorable ad campaigns for leading brands such as AT&T, BMW, NCL and the United States Air Force.

The TOUR and the agency have been partners since 1990. Together, they first introduced the award-winning These Guys Are Good ad campaign in 1997. It remains major pro sports’ longest-running ad campaign.

And they have Casey Martin to thank for it! 

"...in the final analysis, the FedEx Cup is a classic example of the rich getting richer. The top players benefit the most by deferring money into their retirement accounts."

Golfweek's Adam Schupak offers a detailed and timely report on the PGA Tour's deferred compensation plans as they relate to the Fed Cup the most painfully obvious flaw of the event: the $10 million annuity for first place.

Lots to clip and paste here...

For those top FedEx finishers who make it to Champions Tour age, the miracle of compounding interest should ensure their golden years are lived on Easy Street. For Woods, or anyone else in his late 20s or early 30s, that’s likely more than 20 years of tax-deferred compounded growth.

Dave Lightner, a partner in FSM Capital, a Cleveland-based financial planning firm that represents 60 professional golfers, predicts the numbers will be staggering.  

“You could easily see guys with $250 million-$300 million in a retirement account,” he says.

That $10 million annuity isn't looking so huge is it?

The PGA Tour’s performance-based retirement plan is universally regarded as the most lucrative in sports (see story, page 48). It is not fettered by a maximum annual contribution; last year the average contribution for an exempt player exceeded $195,000, according to the Tour’s annual report to its membership. As first reported in Golfweek (March 24, 2001), a Tour member who sustains a lengthy career should be set for life thanks to his retirement account, which increases by at least $3,700 every time he makes a tournament cut.

This season, FedEx Cup bonus money has raised the stakes significantly. For instance, if Anthony Kim, the Tour’s youngest player at 22, wins the FedEx Cup and doesn’t dip into his retirement plan until he is 50, his $10 million bonus, compounding at 8 percent annually and doubling every nine years, would grow to $80 million.

Much about the PGA Tour’s retirement plan has changed with the advent of the FedEx Cup. What originally was devised as a safety net to compensate journeymen pros who never made it big has evolved into a tax shelter for the rich and richer. Though hardly anyone is complaining about competing for FedEx Cup purses (each of the four playoff tournaments is offering $7 million), several Tour members have protested that at least some of the bonus money, if not all, should be paid in cash – taxes be damned.

Those who want the money up front resent that the FedEx Cup was created to accommodate the Tour’s elite and not its rank-and-file. More significantly, the discord magnifies a growing schism between the Tour’s haves and have-mores. (Which can be defined as those who still fly commercial and those who travel in private planes.) Yet however one looks at the issue, there are more than 10 million reasons to compete in the playoffs.

Now to the fun behind the scenes stuff...

Unable to influence their stars’ schedules, Tour executives eliminated the two incentive plans, and instead reallocated the $16.5 million in these two programs as FedEx Cup bonus money. Into this pot they added $18.5 million, thanks in part to the sponsorship deal with FedEx, and ditched the vesting requirements that punished players for not playing enough.

“The guys generating the show, bringing in the sponsors and TV dollars – and they’re only getting 62 percent? That wasn’t going to last,” says Tour veteran Sean Murphy, playing on the Nationwide Tour this season. “But by rolling it into the FedEx Cup, it allows these guys to keep playing their same old schedule (assuming they play well enough) and vest at 100 percent.”

For a player such as Woods, well on his way to becoming the first billionaire athlete, that’s significant.

“He’s got a chance to have 40 percent of his net worth in the retirement plan,” says Joe Ogilvie, a player director on the Tour’s policy board.

Some players contend the FedEx Cup was designed to benefit the Tour’s elite in other ways, too. What had been golf’s endless season left little downtime to conduct off-course business. There are courses to design and openings to attend, commercials to shoot, and, of course, family time. (Mickelson skipped the 2006 Tour Championship in part so he could take his children trick-or-treating on Halloween.) In exchange for playing three to four events in a row during the playoffs, and perhaps as many as six of seven events between the World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational and the Tour Championship, the superstars can call it a year shortly after Labor Day.

Nevertheless, in the final analysis, the FedEx Cup is a classic example of the rich getting richer. The top players benefit the most by deferring money into their retirement accounts. At that income level, say financial advisers, elite players need all the tax breaks they can get.

But it's also important to note that is has been rumored that Tiger was against the annuity in place of cash as the FedEx Cup bonus. Was he looking at this from the fan perspective? These guys obviously weren't...

The decision to defer the FedEx Cup money ultimately rested in the hands of the Tour’s nine-member policy board, comprising four player directors (Stewart Cink, Joe Durant, Davis Love III and Ogilvie), four independent directors (Richard Ferris, Victor Ganzi, John McCoy and Ken Thompson) and the president of the PGA of America (then Roger Warren). According to an e-mail response from the Tour, the Tour policy board determined that a deferred compensation structure for the FedEx Cup was in the best long-term interest of the vast majority of players. That decision, in part, was based on the conservative premise that the Cup winner will have earned upwards of $5 million in prize money for the season – and likely wouldn’t be hurting for cash.

But according to several players who attended meetings to discuss the proposed FedEx Cup last year, the membership initially favored an immediate cash prize.

As talks progressed to the 16-member Player Advisory Council, an early show of hands produced a deadlock on the issue of how players should be paid. Then the Tour invited to PAC meetings several financial advisers who espoused the benefits of deferred compensation. Eventually, the PAC recommended retirement contributions to the Tour policy board. But the debate didn’t die there. The policy board, too, hashed out the pros and cons of deferred compensation at several meetings. They even considered paying half the bonus money in cash and deferring the other half to appease players who wanted at least some of the money up front. But the policy board voted unanimously in favor of 100 percent deferred compensation at a November meeting in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

“This is why NASCAR sells. Apparently we need altercation in the game. We need people slugging it out on the golf course to boost ratings.”

Jeff Rude looks at the bizarre caddy-player spat between Jay Williamson and Mike Mollet that apparently is the subject of much conjecture:

What they disagree on is what ignited the explosion. Williamson said Mollet lost his cool first and embarrassed him with too much emotional talk and Williamson reacted. Mollet said Williamson lost his cool first and embarrassed him with too much emotional talk and Mollet reacted.

Williamson said the caddie kept yelling at him loudly, calling him a “whiner” among other personal insults, and used the F-word. Mollet said he got riled because Williamson directed the F-word and A-word toward him after the bad chip and while disagreeiing about the wind direction. Williamson said he can’t recall swearing.

Jim Rome, the radio mouth, mistakenly called this spat over wind direction the golf story of the year. He apparently didn’t watch the British Open or Big Break VII. But behind the Tour scenes, on ranges and putting greens and in locker rooms, this may have the legs of a caterpillar. It has become enough of a humorous talking point that Camp Ponte Vedra has tried to put a gag order on both combatants because it feels the incident is detracting from this week’s tournaments.

Maybe the Tour is wrongheaded about this. Think stock car battles and hockey fights. Williamson has.

“I can’t believe how this story keeps going,” Williamson, playoff runner-up at the recent Travelers Championship, said on Wednesday. “This is why NASCAR sells. Apparently we need altercation in the game. We need people slugging it out on the golf course to boost ratings.”

Update on 2007-08-02 15:29 by Geoff

Chris Lewis shares a few more classic caddy-player spat stories.

I Guess That's Where The Tour Stands...

Oh I know there's all that legal mumbo-jumbo at the end of the PGA Tour's junk emails (which I so enjoy receiving) about not being responsible for an "advertiser's content." But I also bet the lawyers and VP's could say no to an ad campaign that puts the PGA Tour in an uncomfortable position.

Apparently the Titleist NXT ads, which were very funny for about a year--unfortunately that was three years ago--do not concern the PGA Tour, even though they are part of a campaign suggesting that proponents of equipment regulation are uh, batty!

(click to enlarge) 

R.W. Eaks Becomes Least Famous Man Over 55 To Win A PGA Tour-Sponsored Event...

In light of last week's PGA Tour press release on Jason Day becoming the youngest-ever winner of a "Tour-sponsored" event, I'm awaiting a release on R.W. Eaks' win at last week's Champions Tour tourney, but failing that, perhaps they'll at least send out a release on Daniel Summerhays becoming the first amateur to win a Nationwide Tour event.

Day Becomes Youngest Winner Of Non-PGA Tour PGA Tour-Sponsored Event

In all the euphoria over Monty's win last weekend, a reader noted that I failed to highlight the non-history making moment when the PGA Tour noted that Jason Day became the youngest player to win a "Tour-sponsored" event.

Chalk up another victory for an Australian on the Nationwide Tour, with 19-year-old Jason Day making history on Sunday by becoming the youngest player to win a PGA TOUR-sponsored event.

Okay fine...until this...

Day, at 19 years, seven months and 26 days, surpasses the previous youngest players to win on the two Tours -- including Johnny McDermott's (19 years, 10 months) win at the 1911 U.S. Open and James Oh's (21 years, 5 months and 27 days) victory at the 2003 Mark Christopher Charity Classic.

"To win at the age of 19 is a great accomplishment," said Day, who is also the Tour's youngest player. "This goes down in history. It is a great achievement to be the Tour's youngest winner."

Yes, that's right, we're retoractively lumping his win in with a U.S. Open win that wasn't even "Tour-sponsored" with the Nationwide Tour.

The guys are good!

"The First Tee or some other charity should own the U.S. Open."

I think Joe Ogilvie needs to stop drinking that special fruit punch they're serving him at PGA Tour Policy Board meetings. In a USA Today Q&A with Jerry Potter:

On the U.S. Golf Association …

"It shouldn't own golf tournaments, especially at the professional level. It should worry about the rules of golf. It has lost total concept of what it's about. The PGA of America is the backbone of golf. Their pros teach the game. The PGA Tour pros are the ones the fans are following. The First Tee or some other charity should own the U.S. Open."

Hey, and maybe PGA Tour Championship Management can manage it...pro-bono of course.

On the PGA Tour …

"It's the face of the game, but we don't get credit for what we do. The NFL gets recognition for the United Way, but we gave over $100 million to charity this year. (Fans don't) know the difference between the PGA Tour and the PGA of America."

And sometimes certain really prominent newspapers and magazines don't either!

On the equipment controversy …

"You don't need bifurcation of the rules because the average player needs to play the same equipment we play. If they (USGA) change the grooves, we'll have to wait and see what the effects are. They say it won't affect the average amateur, but should they make rules based on what the best players in the world can do? … The USGA worries too much about 200 guys in the world and how they play golf. We're supposed to be the best at what we do."

Now wait Joe. The average player needs to play the same equipment you play? And why is that? Do they get the same benefits you do? Come on!

On drug testing in golf …

"I don't think you need it. Golfers have always called penalties on themselves, and using steroids is cheating. The penalty for cheating is so severe you would be dead. The Tour would suspend you for life, and no company would want to sponsor you."

The Commissioner could not have said it better himself. 

"‘What we’re trying to do, like all other championship courses, is modernize it and fit it to today’s golfers"

Chay Rao looks at TPC Avenel's pending renovation and featured this from course superintendent Chad Adcock.

‘‘It will be a much better layout,” Adcock said. ‘‘I know that Tiger said that he would like to stay at Congressional, but if they can’t host the [AT&T National] in ’09 and ’11, and they look for another venue, we would like to be that venue.

‘‘I know that the membership here was proud of their Tour stop, and was disappointed to lose it,” he said. ‘‘They want it back.”

One of the major changes to the course will be to its ability to handle extreme weather.

‘‘We are going to restore Rock Run Stream [which runs through the course] to the size and status that it had a few hundred years ago,” Adcock said. ‘‘We are also going to add about 12 to 14 acres of wetlands, so that the course can handle the once-in-a-generation storm, like the one we had last year.”

The PGA Tour has set aside $20 million to make extensive changes to a course that has received poor reviews from several PGA Tour players since it opened in 1987. The Booz Allen Classic — once known as the Kemper Open and FBR Capital Classic for a year — was held at Avenel annually from 1987 to 2006 with the exception of 2005.

Due to the lack of enthusiasm, Avenel’s signature event, the Booz Allen Classic, failed each year to draw many of the top players in golf. That lack of star power was one of the contributing factors to the tournament’s demise.

‘‘The game changed considerably over the last 20 years,” Dennis Ingram, the former superintendent at Avenel told The Gazette last year. ‘‘The landing areas, as they were designed to be, are basically obsolete. ... It becomes an unfair advantage for longer players versus the normal players.

‘‘What we’re trying to do, like all other championship courses, is modernize it and fit it to today’s golfers,” he said.

$20 million in part because these guys had to go and be better athletes! Glad that steroid testing will be starting soon.

“Pairing our players with well-known champions from other sports and seeking their playoffs advice allows us to demonstrate this point in a humorous, memorable and effective way."

 At least we were warned...

PGA TOUR STARS AND OTHER SPORTS LEGENDS FEATURED IN AD CAMPAIGN FOR FIRST-EVER PGA TOUR PLAYOFFS FOR THE FEDEXCUP

Tiger Woods Ad Highlights Campaign; Jim Furyk, Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia
Star in Spots with Jerome Bettis, Phil Simms and Albert Pujols

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL (June 25, 2007) – The PGA TOUR begins to roll out a humorous, star-studded ad campaign this week to promote the first-ever PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, which comprise four tournaments beginning August 23 and concluding September 16. The new ads will feature four of golf’s biggest names – Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk, Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia – alongside three playoff heroes from other sports: 1987 Super Bowl MVP Phil Simms, 2006 Super Bowl Champion Jerome Bettis and 2006 World Series Champion and 2005 National League MVP Albert Pujols.

“I thought it was kind of nice that Jim came to me for advice,” said Bettis, now an NBC Sports analyst who stars with Furyk. “He didn’t seem interested in any swing tips from me, but winning big in the playoffs - I know a little something about that.”

“Late this summer, our players will experience the excitement, pressure and drama of a true ‘playoffs’ for the very first time and we wanted to put that into perspective for our fans,” said Ric Clarson, PGA TOUR SVP, Brand Marketing. “Pairing our players with well-known champions from other sports and seeking their playoffs advice allows us to demonstrate this point in a humorous, memorable and effective way."

The four 30-second spots, created by the PGA TOUR and its advertising agency, GSD&M of Austin, TX, will air during network and cable golf telecasts, and in other sports programming on CBS, NBC and GOLF CHANNEL. The Playoff ads are the culmination of a year-long campaign focused on promoting the inaugural FedExCup, a season-long points competition. The $40 million campaign has been supported by print, online and radio executions throughout the season and featured Tiger Woods’ PGA TOUR advertising debut earlier this year.

Woods once again shows off his creative side as he headlines this new set of ads in a spot called “Whistle.” In the ad, Tiger is seen lacing up his spikes and exiting a locker room while whistling the popular sports anthem “Eye of the Tiger,” made famous by the 1982 film Rocky III.

“This is a thrilling time in golf and these spots truly illustrate the excitement of the Playoffs while having fun at the same time,” said Roy Spence, Founder and President of GSD&M. The campaign also includes:

PRE-GAME MEAL – Super Bowl champ and former Pittsburgh Steelers star Jerome Bettis explains to Pennsylvania native Jim Furyk that the key to performing well in the Playoffs is a proper pre-game meal.

GAME FACE – St. Louis Cardinals slugger and 2005 National League MVP Albert Pujols shows six-time PGA TOUR winner Sergio Garcia how to put on an intimidating game face for the Playoffs.

PREPARATION – Super Bowl MVP Phil Simms offers tips to two-time U.S. Open Champion Ernie Els on how to get psyched up for a big playoff game.

These three ads are now available to view at: http://www.pgatour.com/media/playoff/commercials/. The Tiger Woods spot will be available next week.

Trump National Fresno?

Yes, that's how desperate The Donald is to get in bed with the PGA Tour.

Scott Hamilton talks to Trump about his possible interest in taking over the failed Running Horse project and securing a "Fall Finish" event.

“I build real large buildings and we’ve had some great success in golf,” Trump said. “But I don’t want to be a Club Corp – I just want to have great courses. . . . I’m only looking to do the really prestigious courses. I think we could make (Running Horse) that, but it’s still got a long way to go."

Where's The Brand Consistency?

Or is it brand synergy?

I don't know about you, but I see major cross-pollination and brand contamination issues here...

For immediate release: Tuesday, June 5, 2007

THE PLAYERS Community Senior Center grand opening set for June 8

(Ponte Vedra Beach, FL) -- THE PLAYERS Championship and St. Johns County are proud to announce the grand opening of THE PLAYERS Community Senior Center in Ponte Vedra Beach on Friday, June 8. THE PLAYERS committed $300,000 to help construct a new 10,000 square foot facility located off County Road 210 and Landrum Lane in Palm Valley.

Shouldn't that be THE PLAYERS Community CHAMPION Center? Or Champions? That way they make the uh, successfully aged, feel compelled to watch? (Oh, sorry, the successful aging concept isn't mine. Read on...)

Less than 10 minutes from TPC Sawgrass, the new center will serve seniors and the entire community of St. Johns County. “Thanks to the SJCCOA, THE PLAYERS, the Board of County Commissioners and the County Recreation and Parks Department this is truly just the beginning of a dynamic, responsive and successful partnership,” said Cathy Brown, Executive Director for the St. Johns County Council on Aging.

THE PLAYERS Community Senior Center is equipped with an art room, library, computer lab, exercise room, restaurant-sized kitchen, wrap around veranda and a meeting area with space for 100 people for community gatherings and events.

“Seniors are a vital component of Florida’s rich heritage,” said Governor Charlie Crist. “THE PLAYERS Community Senior Center is a great example of a public-private partnership that reinforces our state’s commitment to creating and expanding opportunities for Florida’s seniors to live active and enriched lives.”

“Many of the volunteers who donate their time to THE PLAYERS Championship are seniors,” said Brian Goin, executive director of THE PLAYERS. “Their efforts and support of the tournament allow us to improve the quality of life for them and the entire St. Johns County community.”

Ah now the picture becomes complete. This is where tomorrow's THE PLAYERS marshalls will be reared!

The Center will offer educational classes, physical fitness, intellectual stimulation, socialization and entertainment.

“THE PLAYERS Community Senior Center is the end result of our combined dreams and visions and would not have been possible without a true understanding of what "successful aging" can and should mean in a society so accustomed to focusing on youth,” said Brown. “To have this level of participation and commitment from both THE PLAYERS organization and from the Board of County Commissioners is truly extraordinary.”

Avenel Redo Update

Leonard Shapiro reports in the Washington Post that the TPC Avenel redo is still going to be pricey:

At the moment, the course is getting permits approved. The next step is a meeting before the planning board on July 12.

The PGA Tour, Sullivan said, has set the money aside. They'll pour $8 million into the clubhouse, including expansions to dining areas, upgrading locker rooms and new fixtures and furniture. Another $12 million will go into the course, with what Sullivan described as "significant changes in design of tee boxes, bunkers and green complexes, as well as all new bentgrass on the fairways and greens."

$12 million for an existing course! Amazing. 

"Certainly it won't be a World Tour--that's far too grand for me to come up with--but there might be a name change."

It looks like a couple of startling developments on this idea of the European Tour becoming a World Tour.

First this, thanks to reader Four-putt, which I missed over the weekend and was certainly a lot more interesting from George O'Grady's mouth than his Tiger-comes-to-Dunhill nonsense:

"The idea of amalgamating with other tours to put on a really attractive schedule, by whatever name we call it, is one that we are in the final stages of refining," European Tour executive director George O'Grady said Sunday.

"Certainly it won't be a World Tour -- that's far too grand for me to come up with -- but there might be a name change."

Fast forward...

"We're the European Tour and we're working with all our partners to make, I would say, a hugely strong alternative to the PGA Tour," O'Grady said.

AP's Doug Ferguson then looks at the escalating rhetoric between the Tours and drops this:

Ed Moorhouse, co-chief operating officer at the PGA Tour, recalls preliminary talks about a WGC event the week before or after the British Open, but it never got beyond that.

"It's fair to say we didn't go into a lot of details because it was fairly obvious they didn't want to entertain a WGC in Europe," Waters said in a telephone interview. "It was most disappointing."

The tournament that got most of the attention was Loch Lomond, home of the Barclays Scottish Open held a week before the British Open. Loch Lomond was interested, and Waters said he was certain Barclays would have been willing to up the ante.

One reason the PGA Tour balked was it had obligations to the John Deere Classic, held the same week in Illinois.

That's why the federation has run its course. It's hard to take it seriously when Finchem, who heads up the federation, has too many competing interests.

Whoa Nellie! Yes, Mr. Ferguson just declared the federation of Tours co-sponsorting the WGC's dead in the water.

Is it conceivable thatl the Euro/World Tour will pull out of the WGC sanctioning?

Frankly, I can't see how the WGC's are good for the game in any way at this point other than for making the top players a lot more money. 

And frankly part 2, wouldn't this all have been avoided if the WGC events were actually played outside of the United States on occasion?